Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade R
Creative arts: drawing, painting and music (Grade R) – Week 5 focus
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Creative arts: drawing, painting and music (Grade R) – Week 5 focus
Download the Lessonotes Mobile South Africa app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.
Subject: Life Skills
Class: Grade R
Term: 2nd Term
Week: 5
Theme: General lesson support
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Creative arts are a vital part of a child's development, especially in Grade R. In South Africa, celebrating our diverse cultures through art and music helps children connect with their heritage and express themselves. This week focuses on exploring lines and shapes through drawing and painting, and on rhythm and sounds through music. Engaging with creative arts allows learners to develop fine motor skills, problem-solving abilities, emotional expression, and an appreciation for beauty in the world around them. These skills are critical for future success in school and life. By introducing creative arts now, we are fostering confident, expressive, and well-rounded young South Africans.
2.1 Drawing and Painting: Lines and Shapes Drawing and painting are visual arts. This week we'll focus on the basic building blocks: lines and shapes.
Line: A line is a mark made on a surface. We can have straight lines (like the edge of a table), curved lines (like a rainbow), zig-zag lines (like mountains), and dotted lines. We can make lines with pencils, crayons, paintbrushes, or even our fingers.
Shape: A shape is a closed line. It has an inside and an outside. The most common shapes are circles, squares, and triangles.
Circle: Round and has no corners, like the sun.
Square: Four equal sides and four corners, like a window.
Triangle: Three sides and three corners, like the roof of a house.
Colour: We use colours to make our drawings and paintings interesting. We have primary colours (red, yellow, blue), which can be mixed to make other colours. For example, red and yellow make orange.
Example 1: Drawing a house: Start with a square for the body of the house. Add a triangle on top of the square for the roof. Draw a smaller square inside the big square for a window. Draw a rectangle (a longer square) for the door. Colour the house with your favourite colours. You could make the roof red and the walls blue!
Example 2: Painting a rainbow: Use a brush or your finger to paint a curved line. Add more curved lines underneath the first one, making each line a different colour. The colours of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. You can add clouds at the end of the rainbow by using white paint and dabbing it gently on the paper. 2.2 Music: Rhythm and Sounds Music involves sounds, rhythm, and movement.
Rhythm: Rhythm is the beat or pattern of sounds. We can create rhythms using our bodies (body percussion) or instruments.
Clapping: Putting your hands together to make a sound.
Stamping: Hitting your foot on the ground to make a sound.
Clicking: Clicking your fingers to make a sound.
Sounds: Sounds can be high or low, loud or soft, fast or slow. Different instruments make different sounds. Our voices can also make different sounds when we sing.
Singing: Using our voices to make music. Many South African folk songs tell stories about our culture and history.
Example 1: Creating a rhythm: Clap your hands twice (clap, clap). Stamp your foot once (stamp).
Repeat this pattern: clap, clap, stamp. This is a simple rhythm.
Example 2: Singing "Shosholoza": "Shosholoza" is a popular South African folk song. Learn the words and sing along. Pay attention to the rhythm of the song. Try clapping or stamping along with the beat. Moving your body to the music can also help you feel the rhythm. Guided Practice (With Solutions)
Question 1: Draw a circle, a square, and a triangle on a piece of paper. Colour each shape a different colour.
Solution: The learner should draw a circle, a square, and a triangle. The circle could be red, the square blue, and the triangle yellow. The key is that the shapes are recognizable and coloured differently. This checks understanding of basic shapes and colour association.
Question 2: Use your fingers to paint a picture of a tree. What colours will you use?
Solution: The learner should use their fingers to apply paint to paper to create a representation of a tree. Ideally, they would use brown for the trunk and green for the leaves. It is more important that they experiment with finger painting than to create a perfect tree. This assesses the learner’s confidence and technique using finger painting.
Question 3: Create a rhythm using only clapping and stamping. Repeat the rhythm four times.
Solution: The learner could create a rhythm like "Clap, Stamp, Clap, Stamp" or "Clap, Clap, Stamp, Clap, Clap, Stamp." Any rhythm using clapping and stamping is acceptable as long as it is repeated. This tests their ability to create and maintain a simple rhythmic pattern.
Question 4: Sing a short part of "Shosholoza" and clap your hands to the beat.
Solution: The learner should attempt to sing a portion of the song and clap to the beat. Accuracy of the singing is less important than the effort to participate and keep the rhythm. Assess their ability to coordinate singing and clapping. Independent Practice (Questions Only) Draw a picture of your house using lines and shapes. Paint a picture of your favourite animal. Use different colours and painting techniques. Create a rhythm using clapping, stamping, and clicking. Can you teach this rhythm to a friend? Sing another South African folk song you know. Draw a picture that shows how you are feeling today. What colours did you use, and why? Create a musical instrument using recycled materials (e.g., a shaker using a plastic bottle and rice). Draw a picture of your family. Paint a picture of the South African flag. Create a rhythm and dance to it. Sing a song about nature (e.g., animals or plants).